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Chapter 18 - Information Trail (CitC)
Bowser was sitting on his throne, a look of thought on his face, as he talked to Ludwig. Standing aside from them were the other five Koopalings, Lemmy, Roy, Iggy, Wendy and Morton. All of them wore somber looks, even the mainly fun-loving Lemmy. At the entrance of the two Clubbas, both Bowser and Ludwig stopped talking and cast suspicious glances to Tubba. "I thought I said to get the girl one, Larry!" Bowser shot at his son, who quailed underneath the look his father gave him. "Don't bring Tubba into this discussion!" "Well, I-" Larry began, stammering. Clubbette cut him off. "I refused to come unless Tubba could too." She looked the Koopa King straight in the eye, and in spite of himself, Tubba felt a glow of admiration. If Bowser was glaring at him the way he was at Clubbette, he would've been quite uncomfortable. Bowser let out a disbelieving grunt, slamming his fist against the armrest on his throne. "Less than twenty minutes ago you were being kicked from the Castle by him!" Clubbette, however, refused to dignify Bowser's anger with a response. She stood on the red carpet leading up to the throne, her eyes cool, her body posture giving nothing away, looking Bowser in the eye. "Whatever." Bowser huffed, looking away, then added brusquely. "Tell me how Power Stars are made." Power Stars? The Stars that power the Comet Observatory and Peach's Castle? What does Bowser need with them? ''Tubba thought, scratching his chin as he did so. ''He's captured Power Stars hundreds of times... how does he not how they're made? His half-sister appeared to be thinking along the same lines. "Why?" Clubbette asked, her gaze thoughtful. "I didn't bring you here to ask questions!" Bowser said, irritated. "How are they made?" Beside him, the Koopalings were all looking at Clubbette with hungry looks in their eyes, especially Ludwig and Iggy, who had taken out clipboards to write notes on. "If you don't answer my question, I'm not telling." Clubbette said firmly, turning her back on Bowser and making her way to the door, her club clunking on the ground. Tubba applauded her spirit silently. She had the upper hand, and would not bend to Bowser's aggression and force of will. Ludwig and Bowser exchanged a glance. Bowser sighed, and leaned deeper into his throne, looking many years older. The eldest Koopaling took a pace in front of the throne, and began to speak. "Tventy minutes ago, Iggy and I intercepted a radio transmission between the Mushroom Kingdom and the BeanBean Kingdom. Zis vas planted information. Zat is obvious, by zee vay zat zey found our precise radio frequenzy, and we did not have to do anysing." Ludwig started, wrenching out each word as if it pained him. "It said zat zey had created a "veapon of mass destruction" lying in space." ''Weapon of mass destruction? The Mushroom Kingdom and BeanBean Kingdom never sink that low! ''Tubba realized with shock. Bowser, on the throne, was steaming with displeasure. "Weapon of mass destruction?" He growled. "That's stealing my thunder! I'm the supervillain here..." Casting a worried look at his father, Ludwig continued. "Iggy and I immediately realized zat it could be bluff. After all, zis vas planted information. Vee searched the skies above zee Mushroom World, and vee vere surprised to see, in fact, zis vas not bluff. Zere vas an unmistakable Power Star energy source above zee Koopan skies. Vee sink zat zis "veapon" is some sort of laser, or missile, powered by zee Power Stars." "So why don't we just go up an' blast dem to oblivion?" Roy questioned, pounding a closed fist into his other hand. "We can take dose guys! We have de tech-no-lo-gee!" "Well, if you paid attention the last five minutes, you would've realized that the only means of defeating Power Stars are Power Stars themselves." Iggy said exasperatedly, but the exasperation immediately left his tone when Roy gave him a glare. "As Dad found out to his displeasure eight years ago." Iggy shot his father a 'sorry about that' look. "I gave up on capturing the Princess and making the Mushroom Kingdom bend to my will three years ago." Bowser admitted, glaring at the Clubbas, as if daring them to laugh. "I'm closing in on sixty, and it's been twenty-some years... but those cowards come and attack ME now!" Waving his father off, Ludwig began again. "Right, so vat Iggy said. Zee only vay of defeating Power Stars are Power Stars themselves. So-" "I left ONE Grand Star unprotected by a major Koopa Troop member. ONE!" Bowser declared, getting up from his throne in a fury. "And Mario goes and takes it and runs all the way, past Kaliente, past Bouldergeist, past Burrows, and goes and blows up my galaxy!" He let out a roar, sparks flying from his nose and mouth. Roy, the closest to Bowser, pushed the King back onto his throne. As he did so, Tubba noted that Bowser was a lot weaker than he had seen him before. Still a terrifying presence, but nothing could hide the undeniable signs of aging. Tubba also noticed that all the Koopalings were looking at Bowser quite worriedly, as if they were expecting him to do something rash. "Right, vell... to destroy Power Stars, you need more Power Stars." Ludwig resumed, "unfortunately, most, if not all of zee Power Stars are under zee control of a certain one Rosalina in zee Comet Observatory. Getting more vould not be safe." "I've busted my way into the Comet Observatory before!" Bowser argued. "And now zey have a veapon of mass destruction trained on your Kingdom. Vee don't vant to give zem an excuse to fire it." Ludwig explained briskly. Bowser, to Tubba's surprise, just grunted, rather than press his case. "Now, Clubbette. Vee don't know to make Power Stars. Zey are the most powerful source in zee known universe, so zee secrets of making are vell guarded. If vee could only make more, vee could take zee attack to zem in the cosmos." Tubba had no idea how to make Power Stars. However, Clubbette clearly did, because she was looking back at the Koopas with a look of pity and regret on her face. "Unfortunately, the only way to make Power Stars is to have a lot of Lumas." Clubbette said, her voice heavy with regret. If she was acting, Tubba admitted it was quite good. "Power Stars are concentration of the powers of a Luma, after they have died. It's going to be next to impossible to make one." At those words, every Koopa in the room sagged. Even Iggy, who was looking quite excited at the revelation of how to make a Power Star, wore a solemn look. A long silence stretched over the room, with no one willing to break it. Wendy decided to. "So what do we do now?"